It is known to provide and attach wheel ornamentations such as wheel caps and wheel covers on the wheels of vehicles in order to enhance the overall appearance of vehicle wheels and wheel assemblies. Wheel ornamentations are less expensive to manufacture than one-piece wheels. In addition, wheel ornamentations provide various types of appearances and styling variations, all of which may be combined with a single wheel design.
It is also known to manufacture the wheel ornamentations from plastic materials and attach the plastic wheel ornamentations to lug nuts that are used to secure wheels on vehicles. An example of such a wheel ornamentation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,081 to Hauler et al. In this patent, an ornamental wheel cover is provided with a number of elongated tubular extensions axially projecting from an inboard side of the cover that are each partially slotted to provide cantilevered fingers. Each finger has an undercut groove that has a shoulder, which positively positions the cover to an upper shoulder of the lug nuts of the wheel. Below the undercut groove is a bulbous portion that contacts the lug nut below the flange or locking ridge and engages the underside of the flange or locking ridge, thereby retaining the cover on the lug nut.
One disadvantage of the plastic wheel ornamentation of U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,081 to Hauler et al. is that, as the lug nuts become heated by the wheel as the wheel rotates, heat is transferred to the extensions of the plastic wheel ornamentation. The heating of the extensions of the extensions causes a decrease in the retention force of the extensions. The decreased retention force of the extensions tends to result in the wheel ornamentation disengaging the wheel.
Patent application Publication No. 2003/0184146 to Jensen et al. is directed to a wheel ornamentation assembly that includes a wire retainer that cooperates with retention legs which axially extend from an inboard surface of a wheel ornamentation. The wire retainer provides mechanical support to the retention legs and prevents the wheel ornamentation from disengaging lug nuts of the wheel assembly.
Other design configurations for securing wheel ornamentations to wheels are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,635 to Brown et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,035 to Kondo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,339 to Roulinson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,780 to Eshler et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,739 to Stanlake, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,281 to Ladouceur, U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,570 to Wiecorek, U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,461 to Hauler, U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,330 to Bruce and U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,151 to Van Houten et al.
The present invention provides mechanical systems for securing wheel covers to wheel assemblies which mechanical systems include a plurality of differently configured finger elements that cooperate so as to compensate for thermal effects that tend to loosen the attachment of a wheel cover to a wheel assembly.
The wheel covers of the present invention together with the mechanical systems for securing wheel covers to wheel assemblies can be molded from plastic materials using conventional processes. The outboard side of the wheel covers can also be finished using conventional techniques and processes.